Phippsburg, Maine
Regarding the bird/s in question of yesterday's post, all hands agree that the birds were Eastern Phoebes in classic fall plumage. Drat. Anyway, thanks very much to all for looking (several hundred of you!) and to those of you who helped. Below is an excerpt from one of the most informative e mails on the subject. Thank you, Bill!
And now, since I can't identify anything, I'm compelled to maudlin verse:
Fickle Flycatcher of Fate
It seems my skills
will never ascend
as long as the tails
of little brown birds
flit 'round the bend.
Alas, what once gave thrill
I've come to hate -
warblers, early and now late
faux flycatchers cum Phoebes,
so aggravate.
Though I yearn
It seems I'll never learn
to tell one from the other,
which is father, which is mother.
Wrong, wrong again,
such is my fate.
"By now you've probably heard this is a nice fresh, fall-plumaged Eastern Phoebe. Phoebes are different from alot of our flycatchers in that they molt BEFORE they head south and start appearing this time of year sporting some spiffy new feathers with a greeny-yellow color under the butt.
Key to the ID of the phoebe from the other small flycatchers is the lack of prominent wing bars (which eliminates most of the Empids including pewee), an all dark bill (pewee and Olive sided have at least some yellow on their lower lip.. er bill).
Behavior wise...Phoebes tend to pump their tails a bit (a la Palm Warber) also the Kingbird-style hunting from prominent perches in the open as seen in your pictures is more often seen with phoebes than the empids."
Robin R Robinson
Birding The Burg
http://robins-chaos.blogspot.com
http://robinrobinsonmaine.com
"On the internet", the dog using the keyboard reassures his canine friend, "nobody knows you're a Dog."
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